Strand handling apparatus



March 22, 1938. F. v. JOHNSON E'r AL STRAD HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Jaun. i4, 1937 4 Shets-Sheet 1 mm n rw... NHC R w51 o W J R Y H mA fr.. E y 4 B ,s Nm

March 22,1938. P. v. JOHNSON Em 2,111,630

1 STRAND HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 14, 1937 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS V. JOHNSON 5.0, RICE March 22,1938.

F. v. JOHNSON ET AL 2,111,630 STRAND HANDLING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 14, 1937 4 sheets-sheet 4 nwe/vraies F. Y. JOHNSON 5.0.- R/cs y v R) 4 rra/wer i." effective alloy.

pairs or units are frequently used to carryA curl lPatented Mar. 2,22, 1938 UNITED STATES rATEN'rfoF-Flos 2,111,630 L s'rRAD.\nANDL1NG aPrAaA'TUs Fred V." Johnson Edgar U. Bice, vBaltimore', Md., assignors 'to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporationof New York VApplication January 14, 1937, Serial No; 120,492

s claims. v(ci. 111-34) This invention relates to strand-(handling apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for combining strands into cable, especially inthe` case of the manufacture of coaxial conductor 6 units for use in communications.

One type of coaxial conductor unit especially applicable in some branches ofthe communications art comprises a central axial inner conductor, usually a ,solid metal wire, having a plurality l pf insulating spacirg4 members mounted at `in` tervals thereon. and a hollowreylindrical outer conductor resting on the spacing members. The outer conductor in que formLof such a conductor pair, consists of metal tapes wound spirally over the spacing members, land preferably of a iiat Z-j shaped cross section to overlap each -other in a quasi shiplap relation, giving a smooth-inner and outer surface to the hollow cylinder formed by .h the tapes. These tapes are preferably of copper v or copper alloy. In some instances, for meenamcal or electromagnetic reasonsor both, it maybe desirable to provide over the outer conductor a protective sheath of spirally wound and overlapping tapes of steel or .other electromagnetically Since such coaxial. conductor rents of high frequency, vit maybe .important that a the component parts be combined with great uniformity of relation to each other.

An object ofthe present invention is'to provide apparatus inwhich strands, and 'particularly the component strands'of the coaxial conductor units or pairs above described, may be rapidly, ein

ciently and accurately combined in' a uniform" 35 manner. 1

One embodiment of the invention contemplates y a coaxial conductor assembling apparatus having meansto examine and test a central conductor 'with insulating disks positioned at predetermined g 4 0 intervals thereonfor missing disks, means to ap- .ply a plurality of Z-tapes of metal over the disks including means to ensure accurate interrelation ofthe tapes .to each other at the point of application, means to reduce 'or prevent possibiydisturbing vibration of the .nascent coaxial pair,

means to apply a plurality of flat metal tapes as a protective sheathover" the outer conductor, and means to detect, signal -and' destroy fortuitous short circuits betweenthe two conductors of the pair. A g

Other objects andfeatures of the invention will clearly appear fromthe following detailed dea scription of`one embodiment thereof in an apparatus Ifor assembling a coaxialeonductor unit or v pair taken in connection with the accompanying `f out appreciable lateral freedom,

drawings in which the sanie` reference vnu'merals are applied to identical elements in the several igures and in which l Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view in side elevation and partly in section of the apparatus; l

Fig. 2 is an enlargedlongitudlnal axial section of a portion of theprodut of the apparatus;

Fig. 3 is a broken enlarged view-in perspective of the Z-tape applying unit;

, Fig. 41s an enlarged detached view in side 19 elevation and partly in section of the Z-tape guide member and` compacting die;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detachedview in end elevation of the Z-tape guide member;

Fig. 6 is a detached enlarged view in side ele- 15 vation .and partly in section of the armor tape applyingmeans; *l Fig. 'I is a corresponding view thereof in end elevation; i f v --in Fig. 1, an outer conductor assembling unit 40,

andan armor sheath assembling unit 60.

An axial or inner conductor I9 may be thought of as comprising a strand IB of copper wire with l I radially slotted disks I1 of, insu1ating`material 35 positioned transversely thereon at predetermined intervals. This inner conductor I9 is drawn in Fig. 1 fromany suitable supply not shown at the left and passes first into the 'testing un'itlli (Figs.

' The testing unit )20, which ls conveniently. mounted on a bracket 2l supported by the frame of thev apparatus, comprises a metal body 22 and a contact support 24 of' insulating material carried on the body. The body has a longitudinal 45.'

passage 25 formed witha' aring entrance 23 and communicating at its rear end with a chamber ze. 'rne latter portion 'of the passage 2551s d1- mensioned to pass the strand I9 freely but with- A i j' 50 -A missing disk detector contact 21 ismounted in the chamber 2s. 'rms Contact 21 is a strip of metal pivoted at its rear end to -be freely pivotable under gravity on a pin or screw 28 mounted l khorizontally in the walls of the chamber and above .55.

of the contact extendsgenerally horizontally to the right and is formedwith a downwardly oonis mounted on the right hand face of vided on its left Side with guid pins the disk 46, nose 50 and die 54 vex bulge dimensioned to be supported in the position shown .in Fig. l8 byfthe normally located disks I1, but to drop down if any disk be missing or out of place. Theouter end of the contact v21 is formed as an upstanding and reverseiy bent hook 29 rising a little above and overlying the tip of a flat contact 26 mounted on the upper face of the insulating support 24. Electrical leads 3| and 82 connected respectively to the pivot .28 and to a terminal 88 on the contact 2||-are con'- nected any appropriate signalling circuit not shown butcomprising a source oi' current and a signal device. If `a disk Il be missing or materie ally displaced, when its propersite on the strand I1 passes' under the bulge of the contact 21, the

latter will drop and touch contact 2l and so close the signal circuit through the leads 8i and l2 Another gravitycontact member 84 is pivotally rmounted at u m the insulating support 24 and is connected to a lead 26 for a purpose 'to be here-I inafter explained.

From the'testing unit 26, the strand I8 passes on through the device 4I whose function is to form a. tubular outer conductor consisting of a number of tapes of copper or othersuitable ma-y terial, over the strand I8 and preferably resting closely on the peripheries of the disks I1. .'Ihese copper tapes or ribbons are of Z-shaped cross section and are to be laid spirally over the disks I1 with overlapping edges in a lquasi shiplap fashion.

Turning now to Figs. 1, 3, 4 and 5, the copper tape assembling unit '4l is. carried on a disklike base 4I mounted on a horizontally disposed hollow shaft 42 journalled in-standards 42, 48 and driven in rotation by a chain -44 from a main drive shaft I6, which in turn is Adriven by amotorfli. A plurality (in this 4case nine) `of Z-tape supply reels 4Iiy the base 4I in a manner to be described hereinafter. A disk 46 is rigidly mounted on the shaft 42 and is pro- 41iand guide members 484 in associated pairs, a. tape I4 from each supply reel 45 passing over one pin 41 and its associated member 48 and through ing aperture 48 in the disk 46, to enter one :of a corresponding plurality of slots A5I formed inthe conical outer surface of a tapering hollowl guide nose 50 also rigidly mounted on theright hand end of the shaft 42. A spider 52 mounted on the disk 46 on pillars 58 carries a compactlng die 54 into whose'funnel shaped entrance the tip of the'nose .50 enters.

The strand I9v passes axially through the hollow shaft 42, /emerges'from the nose 50, theguide slots 5I lay the tapes I4 on the disks I1 of the strand I9 in such wisethat the tapes are properly interrelated with each other and with the strand I8 to be forced by the die 54 to lie shiplap in a cylinder oi the disks I1 in the mutual relation indicated ln Figs. 2 and 3. The slotsfil are not straight linegenerators of the conical surface, but are plane sections of the cone such that each is' in a plane tangent to the cylindrical :surface of the completed outer -conductor in the forming die 54.

In thevappalatus illustrated, the base 4I with F is rotated relatively- 'slowly and counter-clockwise as seenfrom the right in Fig. 1, and hence the tapes I4 are laid on' the disks- I1 with a long left hand twist.

From the die a correspond- .symmetrically identical sleeves 61 and 68.

'identical in size and v struction.

the nose ilhand the die 54. As it 54 the completed bare conductor pair passes on .to the,.armor sheathing unit 68.

Here, Figs. 1, 6, 7, 10 Iand 11, a disk like base member 6I is mounted on a ihollow shaft 62 through which the conductor pair passes. 'I'he shaft 62 is journalled in supports 63 and driven by a chain reels 65', flat tape being wound directly on the tapes I4 in a slightly open' helix and the other tape I2 being Wound to' lie over and cover the narrow helical gap between turns of the first tape |2.- To ensure accurate relative positioning of the tapes I2, the right hand fend of the -shaft 62, which is longitudinally slotted at 14, 14 to allow the tapes I2 to pass, has a guide device mounted rigidly 'thereon comprising two mutually proximate ends of these sleeves are stepped as at 66 and 10, and the sleeves arel locked one tape I2- in place on the shaft 62 by jam screws 1I in such 86 fashion as to leave quasi slots 12 and 16 extending transversely half across andoiset with respect to each other. Each of theseslots is of such dimensions that the tapes I2, one in each slot, have each only one possible path from the corresponding guide 66 to the winding point on the core,'belng -controlled laterally with respect lto each tape by the walls of the corresponding slot 12 or 13.

The base 6I is driven in rotation at higher speed than the base 4I and in the opposite direction. Hence the tapes I2 fare laid on in a helix of relatively'short pitch and right hand twist. l

Since onetape I2 is wound overjthe other, the supply reel 465 for the outer tapel 2 will be emptied more rapidly than the reel supplying the inner tape I2. 'I'he ,reels being for convenience shape will rapidly become and remain of unequal weight even if they were alike at'anwgiven time. Hence there will necessarily be rotary uibalance in the unit 60 most of the time. To obviate vibration from this cause, the journal support 14 for the shaft 62 is mounted in a casing 15 which can be filled with granular or 4cast lead or other suitably heavy material to control the vibration.

From the unit 6I)v the completed product passes on to suitable propelling. means and take-up means not shown but of any appropriate con- Each of the reels 45 and 65 corresponding base 4I' or 6I in the manner shown in Fig. 8. Let it be assumed that one of the reels 65.is here represented. Astub 'shaft 80 having a tapered'outer portion 8| terminating atthe left in an integral collar 82, has its cylindrical base 83 l mounted in a corresponding perture in the base 6I. An anti-friction berin 84 has its inner raceway about the portion 83 and abutted against the stop shoulder furnishedy by the collar 82. annular filler 85 is interposed between the raceway and the base 6I, and these parts are drawn *tightlyl together` by a nut 86 on the threaded end of the shaft'base 83 beyond the base 6I.

A. hollow sleeve 81 is mountedat its left end over the vouter raceway of the bearing. 84 and abuts against a brake collar 88 loosely surrounding the shaftv base mounted in the collar 88 and extending into cor#v responding recesses in the end of the sleeve 81, so that fthe collar 88 is is mounted on theA 83. 'I'here are four pins 89 l driven in rotation by the sleeve. A static ry//brake member 90 surrounds the shaft 83,19 sely` nd'extends all across the*v base 6I to/le 'mounted'-in' the same fashion on another ,similar shaft 83 not shown in Fig: 8, and is thsf/'heldagain'st rotation aboutl either shaft 834/2" plurality ofcompression springs 9| housed in corresponding bores in the base 6I urge the stationary member 90 against the rotating member 88 to prevent\ the reel 65 mounted on the [sleeve 81. fromoverrunning and to provide the necessary tension on a strand drawn from the reel. Each of the springs 9i is backed by a plug 92 sliding in the corresponding. bore and these plugs 92 are adjusted in and out of the bores and are held in adjusted position by abutting attheir left hand ends against a threaded collar 93` mounted on 'the externally threaded surface of the nut 86. Each plug 02 is hemispherically roundedat'its outer end and the collar 93 is provided with a pluralityv o f corresponding recesses or'apertures 34 so that the ends rof the plugs yielgngly' prevent accidentalrotation of the col- The outer or right handendof the sleeve 81 is mounted on the outer raceway of an anti-friction bearing 95 whose inner raceway is secured on the outer end of the shaft 8| by a nut 96. Anoil cap 91 is held in place within the end of the sleeve 81bya-snapring |98. A

The sleeve 81 is formed near itsleft end with a conical wedge portion 9B dimensioned to enter the central bore of thereel 85t0 hold and support the leftsideof the reel. The'righ't side of the reel is held vand supported en a corresponding conical wedge 99 formed on a sleeve |00 threadedlyl supported on the correspondingly threaded outer or right end of the sleeve 81 and which may be screwed in or out on' the sleeve 81 to grip or release 'the reel. A cap 'IOI is formed to fit over vthe body ofthe sleeve and is connected to the sleeve to be longitudinallyslidable thereon but rotationally locked thereto by one or 4more bolts |02 mounted in the .cap and islidable in corresponding bores in the sleeve body |00. V'l'.'hese boresa're enlarged at their left hand ends to receive compression -springs |03' surroundingthe bolts and held between the nuts |04 of the bolts andthe shoulders of the bores. Thus the cap I is held'yieldingly pressed to ner surface of the end -wail of the ca p -pressed against the Vextreme end face of the sleeve 8 1. This en'd face of the sleeve 81 and the corresponding part of the end wail of the cap IIII are formed with'coacting serrations held in engagement by the springs |03, which' prevent the cap IOI from,` being rotated towithdraw the sleeve |00 -from tll reel05 unless-the cap be drawn away from e sleeve 81 against the tension of the springs |03, but which serrations act in ratchet fashion to permit the cap to be rotated to advance thesleeve |00 into the reel.

The conductor tapes Il or the armor tapes I2 or both are connected in anyA suitable fashion not shown to one side of an appropriate Aelectrical..`

circuit also not shown, theother side" of which circuit is connected tothe lead 36 `and. so to the contact 34;, This circuit-then servesto detect any accidentalv shortcircuit between the axial y and'may be wideiymodifled and departed from conductor II8 and the coaxial cylindrical conductor M Il; `1

The apparatus of one form of embodiment of the invention only also formed with a the left with the inherein disclosed is' illustrative outer conical surface and a central bore coaxialI with the conical surface, the said bodybeing also formed with a plurality of guide slots cut into the, conical surface, each slot lying'in one of a plurality of planes tangent to and envelopingfgil 'core strand passing through the central bore.

.3. In a strand handling apparatus, strandas- -sembllng means comprising a body having an outer conical surface and a central bore coaxial with the conical surface, the said body being also formed with a plurality 'of guide slots cut into the conical surface, each slot lying in one of a plurality of planes tangent to and enveloping a core strand passing through the central bore, and the -slots being equally spaced apart around the bore.

4. In a, strand handling apparatus, strand assembling means comprising a body having an outer conical surface and a central bore coaxial with the conical srgace.- the said body being lurality of guide slots cut into the conical surface, each slot'lying vin .one of a plurality :of planes tangent to and enveloping. a core strand vpassing through the central bore in. combination with an intertwis'ting die to' receive the core strand passing through the central bore and a plurality of cover strands passing respectively through the slots, to intertwist the cover strands about the core strand. l

5. In a strand handling apparatus, ,strandv assembling means comprising-a body having an outer conical surface and a central bore' coaxial with the conical surface. the said body being also formed with a plurality of guide slots cut into the conical surface, each slot lying in one of a plurality of planes tangent to and envelopvingya core strand passing through the central bore in combination with means to supply the core strand to the central bore, means to supply a coverstrand to )each of the slots, and anA intertwisting die, to receive the core strand passing,

through the central bore anda plurality of cover strands passing respectively through the slots, to

intertwist the cover strands about the core strand. 's 6. An apparatus for assembling strands, com prising'means to supply a corestrand, means to supply apair of fiat tape-form strands, and

means to serve the two tape strands on the core strands in helical windings 'with the turns of one of the tape strands superimposed upon the adjacent edges of adjacent turns lof the other tape strands, the said `serving means including a hollow' shaft having a-pair of-radial slots inthe wall thereof, and a pair of sleeve-like guide memu /bers mounted on shaft and having each its endtoward the other formed with a step whereby the two guide members define therebetween a pair of mutually offset' tap 'guiding slots overv the pair of` radial slots in the shaft.

'1.fAn apparatus for lassembling strands, comprising means to supply a core strand,'means to supply a plurality of strands of flat Z-shaped `cross section, meansto supply a pair of nat tape and the Z-strands to an intertwisting point and to interrelate the z-strands in shiplap fashiony about the core strand, comprising abody having an outer conical surface and a central bore coaxial with the conical surface to receive and pass the core strand and the said body being also formed with a plurality of guide slots cut into the conical surface, each the said serving means including a hollow shaftV having a pair of radial slots in the wall thereof,

slot lying in one of a, plurality of planes tangent to and enveloping 2,111,030 form strands, means to guide the corel strand and a pair of sleeve-like guide membersmounted on shaft and having each its end toward the other formed withv a step whereby the two guide members define therebetween a pair of mutually offset tape guiding slots over the pair of radial slots in the shaft.

8. In an apparatus for handling strands, a serving head comprising a rotatable base member, a plurality of strand supply means mounted thereon to rotate therewith, and a strand guide member coaxially mounted on the `base member and comprising a body having an outer conical surface and a central bore coaxial with the conical surface, the said body being also formed with -a plurality of guide slots cut 'into the conical surface, each slot lying in one of a plurality of planes tangent to and enveloping a core strandpassing through the central bore.

FRED v. JoHNsoN. y EDGAR U. RICE. 

